Visordown Awards 2025 - all the winners revealed

After another year packed with new metal, rigorous testing and countless miles on roads and circuits here and abroad, the Visordown Awards return to highlight the motorcycles that genuinely stood out in 2025. 

This year’s results were revealed live at MCL25, marking not only the culmination of twelve months of independent evaluation but also the start of an exciting new partnership. For 2026, the UK’s leading motorcycle insurance brand, Carole Nash, will officially join as the title sponsor of the Visordown Awards, strengthening our shared aim to champion the bikes that matter to real riders. Together, we will continue to test, scrutinise and celebrate the machines that move the industry forward. 

Carole Nash are delighted to be announced as the proud sponsors of the 2026 Visordown Awards. With over 40 years of experience in the motorcycling industry, their aim is to get riders out on the road with suitable bike insurance cover for their pride and joy. There couldn't be a better alignment with the Visordown Awards 2026. We look forward to celebrating the many manufacturers who devote such passion, dedication and time bringing the motorcycling community together, with outstanding bikes and products throughout the year. We're also excited that one of the awards in 2026 will be judged by you - the audience - alongside expert panels from Carole Nash and Visordown. We look forward to sharing more details on this throughout 2026. Here's to all the very worthy winners of 2025. We look forward to celebrating the next phase of winners in 2026.

Here are the motorcycles that earned their place at the top.

Best Super Naked - Triumph Speed Triple 1200 RX

It’s got to be. It’s the best-handling Speed Triple I’ve ridden, easily the most exciting, and without doubt the quickest around a track. It’s a proper thrill ride, and if you’re into your track days or just enjoy a bike that fights back a bit, the RX delivers in spades.

If you’ve ever thought your Speed Triple RS was just a bit too well-behaved, the RX is your slightly unhinged, rowdy cousin. It’s more committed, more capable, and way more fun if you're the kind of rider who enjoys a bike with a bit of attitude. The new RX feels like the Speed Triple you buy if you want something that’s more than happy to fight back when provoked. It’s wild, fast, and unapologetically aggressive. It’s the Speed Triple turned up to eleven.

Best Sports Bike - Ducati Panigale V4 S

Beyond the lap times, it’s clear that Ducati has made substantial progress in terms of feel and handling. The 2025 model is more stable, planted, and significantly easier to ride. Where the previous version might have required calming shortshifts, especially when exiting fast, sweeping corners, the new Panigale demands full throttle, unleashing every bit of its Italian horsepower without hesitation. This newfound confidence translates into faster lap times.

The advancements in rider aids and braking technology are truly remarkable. No Ducati superbike has ever been this easy to ride consistently and safely. You can push the limits, relying heavily on the bike’s rider aids—a shift in mindset that allows you to do things you wouldn’t ordinarily attempt. The Panigale flatters the rider, enhancing lap times and making track riding more enjoyable. In short, it makes you faster.

Best Sports Tourer (Under 1,000cc) - Triumph Tiger Sport 800

Another triple in the Tiger range means it swells to a frankly baffling ten bikes (if you include the Tiger 850 Sport and the various editions of Tiger 900s and 1200s), but it does at least mean there is now a defacto sports tourer to choose from, and not an ADV that has been adapted for life on the road.

With its 17-inch wheels, sporty tyres, suspension and punchy engine, the Tiger Sport 800 becomes the Hinckley factory's obvious choice for those looking for excellent on-road performance without compromising on comfort, range or luggage carrying capacity.

It’s a highly accomplished machine in its own right, and simply looking at it as a bored-out version of the brand’s existing Tiger Sport 660 would be doing it a huge disservice. It’s quite possibly Triumph’s most versatile on-road touring bike since the days of the 1050 Sport or the Sprint GT.

Best Sport Tourer (Over 1,000cc) - Kawasaki Ninja 1100SX SE

If you are looking for a more traditional take on the sports tourer, Kawasaki’s Ninja 1100SX is still a model that can't be ignored. It’s the longest-living model in the segment for a reason, and while visually it’s little changed for 2025, beneath the skin there is enough going on to pique the interest of existing Ninja 1000 owners and those looking to ditch a wristy sports bike without losing out on thrills or performance. It’s a bike that simply inspires confidence when you ride it. The chassis, suspension, brakes and engine all work together beautifully to create a riding experience that can be as exciting or relaxed as you like.

Do I wish the bike had followed its taller sibling into the world of semi-active electronic suspension? Yes, in a way, I do. I for one would have handed back the Brembo stoppers and Ohlins shock and swapped them for the Showa electronic suspension, and I have a feeling a lot of riders would do the same. Not only is the Showa kit extremely good on the road, it also opens up changes to rear preload at the push of a button, meaning you could flick from solo riding to two-up with luggage without having to guess how many clicks of preload you require. Maybe Kawasaki is just waiting to surprise us all with an SX + model in 2025, I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

Best Modern Classic - Triumph Speed Twin 1200

The Speed Twin 1200 has big boots to fill now that the Thruxton is sadly no more. But fill them it can, as it feels much more like a properly sorted performance bike than the Thruxton ever did. And it's not just a comparison between this bike and its older sibling, for me the Speed Twin always felt like a bit of a confused model, like it was never quite sure if it was a sporty roadster or a straight-forward neo-retro. 

What Triumph has done with the 2025 update, and thanks to the introduction of the new RS version, is firmly clear up that confusion. On the one side, you have the Speed Twin 1200, a neo-retro with enough poise and ability to entertain any rider of any ability and experience level. And on the other side of the garage, we have the Speed Twin 1200 RS, a bike that is without a shadow of a doubt a proper retro sports bike. It’s more capable and precise, and when you push on, it's more rewarding to ride.

To sum up the two models I think the best way to describe them is by saying that the stock Speed Twin can do 90 per cent of the things its sibling can, with almost as much poise and control. The RS’s party trick though, is that when you push on to find that final 10 per cent or so, you’re not going to find the limit on the higher-spec bike. It’s quite impressive just how capable it is now.

Best Adventure Bike (Over 1,000cc) - BMW R1300 GS

Although we found for ourselves that the GS does very well for itself off-road, it’s on the asphalt where it truly shines. For bombing across multiple countries in one day and then providing more entertainment than you might expect at the other end, few bikes do it better.

The only problem is, you’ll need some fairly deep pockets. The bike starts at £16,470, but most will end up spending a lot more than that. Our test bike had the ‘Option 719’ ticked,  which adds the gorgeous 'Tramuntana' Auerelius Green Metallic paint and gold wheels combination, a comfort seat, electric windscreen, pillion package and billet pack for an extra £2,820. Should you want to add the Dynamic Package on top of that to add the quickshifter and the adaptive suspension, it's an extra £1,660.

Get carried away in the configurator, and you can soon inflate the price beyond £25,000. Not exactly chump change, but the GS has never been a cheap bike, and in any case, BMW motorcycles live in a weird microcosm separate from much of the bike industry. People are happy to pay these prices, as proven by the R1300 GS consistently topping UK sales charts since it was introduced. After spending a few thousand miles on a new GS, we completely understand why.

Best Middleweight Naked - Ducati Streetfighter V2

Having sampled Ducati’s V2 engine in the Panigale on track earlier in the year, I was looking forward to trying it again but in its more road-focused form. And what a road ride to take it on. Our group headed out at 9am from the coast of Almeria in Spain and covered around 120 miles of Spanish mountain roads with a few miles of motorway thrown in for good measure. It was a great mix of roads to test out this new 890cc V-twin, especially as we were greeted with sapphire-blue skies from the moment we left, with the sun continuing to shine throughout our six-hour ride.

Ducati has started from scratch when designing this new engine, and it has resulted in a Streetfighter that is completely different to the previous model. Rather than charging in and replacing the old Superquadro 955cc V2 engine with more power and a slap in the face, Ducati has taken a moment to carefully consider what it is that customers want and the performance that’s actually needed from a bike to create an all-round package that is more scalpel-like, lighter and more useable but still with enough gutsy performance to make it useful on the road. I was impressed by the Panigale V2, but now we have the option of bringing many of those new features into a Streetfighter package - a package that saves you around £1,000.

So this road-focused distinction might just take your fancy more than the slightly pricier and racier Panigale. We’ve seen just how popular naked bikes have become over the years and although this is at the more premium end of the market, you are getting a brilliant package and a lot for your money in terms of the electronics and hardware. So to me, as we’ve tested it today, this is a wickedly sweet handling road bike but if you do the occasional track day, I don’t doubt that this wouldn’t be a lot of fun to play around with, especially on tracks like Cadwell or Oulton Park, because it has all the equipment it needs to perform on the circuit too.

Best Road-Focused Sport Bike - Yamaha R9

All in all, the new R9 is a riot. Granted, at places like Silverstone, you are going to be getting dropped on the straights a fair bit, but that front end feeling you’ll get from the bike will more than make up for it’s straight line shortcomings. And that’s not to say that the R9 is sluggish, quite the opposite in fact, but compared to a 200bhp-plus sports bike, you are going to be left slightly behind.

What I found interesting at Donington was how close the R9 appeared to be in comparison to some track-day R6s. It’s a fair comment that I was comparing my riding to the other riders (and not the bikes they were riding), but I came across a number of R6s on the track, and the newer bike felt more than a match for the riders I was dicing with. The R9 was noticeably punchier out of the corners, in fact, while I was already cranking on the throttle to get down the next straight, a few of the R9-mounted riders would still be feathering the throttle. For me, that again highlights how much more forgiving the new bike is compared to inline four-cylinder super sport offerings.

Best Cruiser - Harley-Davidson Low Rider ST 

Want to look cool crawling along the seafront? Low Rider ST. Want to enjoy curving roads while keeping your license? Low Rider ST. Want to visit Austria? Low Rider ST. I wouldn’t choose it for my daily commute, but it could do that, too, if you’re the type to commute on a £21k motorcycle.

The bike’s price tag may be its only Achilles heel. But possibly I’m only saying that because I personally don’t have the £21,295 needed to meet its starting price. In truth, the Low Rider ST is probably worth what Harley wants for it.

Sure, you can find the same features in a more affordable package. But that bike won’t look, sound, and feel like this one. 

That bike won’t be the sort of machine that you’ll be inclined to hold on to for life, the kind that you’ll brag about in the old folks’ home, the kind that your kids will hold up pictures of you riding and say: “Look how cool my dad was.”

The Low Rider ST will give you all that and more.

Best A2 Bike - Honda GB350S

After around 500 miles and two weeks of use, the little Honda has been the perfect bike to ease into the 2025 riding season. It’s a machine that seems almost purpose-built for crisp spring mornings and hazy late afternoon trips to the local biker cafe. Take the GB350S for what it is, and settle into its relaxed demeanour, and you’ll never be disappointed.

Fast, it may not be, but it is very entertaining to ride and with charm and character in abundance. It's hard not to crack a smirk every time I ride it. Adding to that feel-good factor is the cost, both to buy and run. For a shade under £4,000 you are getting a seriously accessible bike, that doesn’t scrimp on kerb appeal, is as easy to ride as a bicycle and looks absolutely brilliant. My only real regret is not snagging one for a couple of weeks longer.

Best Value Bike - 2025 - Honda CB1000 Hornet

It was EICMA 2023 when Honda first revealed the concept for the CB1000 Hornet, and it looked sweet, with about the right kit on it, and with an engine that is widely regarded as one of the best inline four-cylinder units of the late 2010s.

But there is something else that the Hornet does superbly well, and it's a trick I’m not sure I’ve experienced on any other modern-era Hondas. It’s that this bike feels like a fun bike. By that I don’t mean it’s a bike that you can have fun on while you ride - as pretty much any bike can do that. What I mean by that statement is that this feels like a bike that wants to have fun. It’s happy to pull wheelies, and slither into corners. It’s a seriously quick bike that doesn't take itself too seriously. I get the impression that making the rider smile from ear to ear while riding the new CB1000 was firmly on the Honda design team's to-do list. The fact that while they ticked that box they also created the best value super naked you can buy feels like a very happy accident!

Visordown Bike of the Year - Honda CB1000 Hornet

One of the areas where the CB1000 Hornet stands out the most is its value, as Honda’s range-topping naked undercuts many of its rivals in terms of price. The standard model currently costs £9,099, with the higher-spec SP variant priced at £10,099. Those are both very competitive figures in today’s market for any 1000cc naked, and are cheaper than Yamaha’s MT-10 (£14,320) and Kawasaki’s new Z1100, for example, which costs £11,099 in standard trim, while the SE variant is priced at £12,699.

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